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we offer expertise and tailored solutions for small businesses and major corporations. what can we do for you? >> and now, "bbc world news." >> welcome to "bbc world news." live from our studios overlooking the olympic park in london. i am george alagiah. coming up in this program -- olympic organizers are reducing the number of seats set aside for officials after outrage of them sitting empty avt venues. >> we will put them up for sale. 3000 were put up for sale last night. >> and other news, power is gradually restored across

northern india after a huge electricity failure cut off hundreds of millions of people. the syrian army says it has overrun a rubble-filled neighborhood in aleppo as the u.n. reports 200,000 have fled the city. three women are on trial in russia, members of a punk band. >> hello there. the first gold medal of the day is due to be won in the next 20 minutes or so. so far, 82 medals have been won an 19 olympic records have been broken. china is top at the moment with six golds, head of the usa's 3.

spectators have been pouring into the olympic park. the biggest test so far for london's transport system as commuters across the city alongside olympic visitors. the mtc issue has not gone away. organizers say they have cut the number of accredited seats by 15% and put more tickets on sale to the public. the london olympics organizing committee has held a press conference this morning, where the answer questions about that. the director of communications and public affairs says much has been done to fill the empty seats. >> it is not an exact science here. we are working within the numbers that each of the accredited areas look at. we have done a lot already. thank you to the press, mainly. we have taken away all the non-

table seats from the preliminary round and sold those. we've done an awful lot already in the lead up. we've reduced the number of accredited seating by 15%. we have put in place what we thought would be a satisfactory number, 150 kids and students and teachers who could fill any gaps in the preliminary session. we felt we have done a lot already. it is not an exact science. yesterday really shows that with one basketball match that was completely oversubscribed. on the other side, there are other areas. we are putting our efforts into those areas. we've done a lot to reclaim, where we can. >> the backdrop to that is that the ticketing issue was a huge controversy in the run-up to the olympics in britain with lots of the public saying they just

could not get enough tickets. lots of anger when they see those empty seats. let's catch up with the sports. andrew is here with the latest. >> george, thank you. i can update a few results. a new olympic record in qualifying in the women's doubles schoo. in women's basketball, china has beaten croatia 83-58 and group a. two wins for them now. in qualifying for the men's 10 meter air rifle prix tournament favorite, the italian finished top, 599 points out of a possible 600. he was the first athlete to qualify for these games. eight men qualify for the finals. that takes place and about 10 minutes.

plenty to look forward to. we should know more within the next half-hour. >> andrew, thank you very much. thank you. london's transport system is expected to be put to the test today. commuters have been warned about where to avoid at what times. i'm joined by mark e transport t the organization that looks out here in the capital city. mark evans, give us an idea of how big a challenge today was, the first week day of the olympics. >> as you can imagine, we're doing our best not only to get spectators to and from their seats, but also london's work force getting into and out of london, as well. we have 50,000 spectators going out for the cross-country event.

that's in the opposite direction of the normal flow. we have to put in specific measures there. that will be important this evening. commuters who normally use the london bridge station, platforms 136, they will not be able to do that tonight. it will have to go to the other stations in order to get home. >> give us some numbers. we are one of the world's great cities. how many commuters would you normally see travelling around london? how many extra people on top of that are you having to deal with? >> on a normal day, 12 million people on the london transport network. on busy days like today, we will carry an extra 3 million trips on our network. 25% increase. that will be focused in certain parts of london and at certain times of day. we've done a lot of planning to make sure we have the services on at the right time. we have operational staff out on

the network. we have given londoners the information they need so they can avoid the travel hot spots. >> it is presumably going to become more and more of a challenge as more and more of the sporting events move toward their final. there will be more spectators around. >> we are at the beginning of a busy period. we get to the end of the week and the olympic stadium comes into use, it will be very busy. we have much shorter -- it is busy across the network. today, the busiest day on the light railway. hundreds of thousands of people on certain lines today. it is busy. so far, so good. >> good luck. thank you. let's bring you some of the international news. officials in india say 60% of electricity supplies have been restored after a power cut left

hundreds of millions of people across northern india without power. the network has been severely disrupted after electric engines came to a halt. joining me from delhi -- i give a few details. bring us up to date. in particular, things like hospitals. they've gone into emergency mode. >> that is right. this is no stranger to power cut. on this scale, it is a rarity. the first such power outage in more than a decade. the entire northern grid of india went down for more than six hours this morning, affecting more than 300 million people across more than eight states in north india. as you say, main transport was affected. also, in delhi, the metro was affected for a number of hours, as well. also, things like water

treatment plants. you talked about hospitals. some large hospitals have gotten power generators for backup. india is used to small-scale power cuts. many emergency services work off of backup generators. it is still a huge infrastructure problem when you are talking about 28% of the country affected by this. >> moving aside from those problems, this, in many ways, is an indictment, many will say, of the country's lack of investment in infrastructure. a country which wants to be seen as a global player but cannot provide electricity. >> yes, people are bringing that out again today. a population of 1.2 million and rising. it does not have the power capacity to deal with that. they cannot keep up with demands. that brought up the argument

that india should invest more in nuclear power. there's another issue here, as well. it is also about how the power is delivered. a lot of power in india -- people stealing electricity from the lines. also, some of the grants are extremely old. that is a huge issue. not just the issue but happened today, but let's look at the south of india. every day, regular power cuts as long as two hours every day. businesses have to deal with this issue every day, even in a major city in india. people are saying that it's time the government did more when it comes to that. one quick comparison. india has the power capacity, 20% of that of china. many say india really needs to wake up to the problem of power supply with a growing population. >> we will leave it there. thank you. >> fighting continues in the

key syrian city of aleppo. state television said the district formally a rebel stronghold, had been purged. the rebels denied this and say a continues. a terrible night of explosions. from beirut, jim muir reports. >> syrian state television is now following the aleppo fighting on the ground, as it did for damascus last week. it says government forces have moved into salah al-din, the southwest portion of aleppo which had become a rebel stronghold. >> [speaking foreign language] >> we have taken complete control from the mercenary gunmen and will make it

peaceful and just a few days. >> activists say they're still fighting in the quarter and in other areas, syrian troops have defected, handing over government tanks to the rebels. as the battle rages, growing concern for of of many civilians trapped in the city. believes 200,000 have fled. many pouring into improvised field hospitals are civilians. >> [speaking foreign language] >> some days, we get 30, 40, or 50 wounded. that does not include the bodies. some of the bodies are so disfigured that they cannot be identified. >> water supplies have been cut off. the only shops that are open are the bakeries, working round-the- clock to produce bread for the hungry. is the fasting month in midsummer heat is adding to the orardeal.

the regime is turning to iran. president ahmadinejad has assured the foreign minister of syria that iran will stand by syria. the americans, iran's strategic adversaries, but believe the aleppo -- >> as they continue this kind of tragic attack on their own people in aleppo, i think it will ultimately be a nail in assad's coffin. he is just assuring that the assad regime will come to an end. >> neither regime has to win back aleppo if it has to survive. if it loses, the rebels will control the north and damascus will surely be next. >> this is "bbc world news."

still ahead -- pakistan's big hopes for a medal at the olympics. can the hockey team recover from a period of turmoil? more from our series looking back at past olympics when the games came to melvyn. the australian was tipped for glory. she has been described as one of australia's greatest champions and also one of the most unlucky. >> people say it must have been wonderful. it was a bittersweet occasion for me. i had a reputation of being quite a slow starter. this time, it didn't click.

when i got to about the 50 meter mark -- yeah, i thought -- i was lucky enough to have enough momentum to carry me on. that's one thing i suppose was in my behavior. i picked up my bronze medal. others disappointed. italy disappointed. i could not do it over again. i just had to go on. i guess i did feel a bit of a failure in melvyn. there was a lot of celebration when we came back and street parades and things like that. i would have loved to have been a gold medalist instead of a bronze medalist. >> marlene matthews, who also

won a bronze in the to wonder meters in the 1956 games -- in the 200 meters in the 1956 games in melbourne. much more here on "bbc world news." >> this is "bbc world news." the headlines -- olympic organizers are reducing the number of seats set aside for officials after outrage over empty space in some venues. power has been restored across northern india after hundreds of millions of people were cut off by a major failure of the electricity grid. now, all three members of the russian punk band, pussy riot, have pleaded not guilty after they sang a political protest song in the moscow cathedral. think the women have

been treated too severely. >> locked in a bulletproof cage in a moscow court house, the three women accused of staging a deliberately shocking political performance in russia's most important church. today, they went on trial, charged with desecrating the cathedral. of the women have been held in prison for five months ahead of today's trial, despite the fact that two of them are mothers of young children >> the group is called pussy riot and this was the performance. obscenity, a mock prayer to the virgin mary to rid russia of vladimir putin. >> the woman have been in this prison ever since. request to replace them have been turned down -- requests to

release them have been turned down. >> on the 12th year of controlling russia, putin is slowly starting to lose a values. he no more understand where are the limits of what he can do in what he cannot do. >> rest is divided over the case. many -- russia is divided over the case. many in the orthodox church were outraged, including some here in central moscow. >> [speaking foreign language] >> russia is the last orthodox power in the world. they need to go to prison. >> [speaking foreign language] >> you should not insult your parents. in the same way, you should not defecate in a church. >> pussy riot has gained

international attention. superstar musicians, like sting, have backed their cause. supporters believe that pressure from the kremlin will be far more influential. >> now, a judge in libya is due to decide whether a three hiv positive women have their rights violated when they were allegedly sterilized against their will. it is seen as a test case across the region. lawyers say the practice of sterilizing hiv-positive women is widespread. our southern africa correspondent has the details. >> these three women were all hiv-positive. they were all pregnant. they were all preparing to deliver their babies by cesarean section. their lawyers alleged that they were coerced into having sterilizations after the cesarean section and that they

were not in a position to give informed consent and that violates their human rights and is against the constitution. i've been speaking with doctors. it is a very nuanced situation. this is a practice that is happening in other parts of southern africa. we are awaiting a decision from the high court. >> pakistan's hopes of an olympic medal rest almost entirely on hockey. the men's tournament opens today. pakistan will face spain later today. it has won three gold medals in the sport and the past. london 2012 comes up for a period of turmoil for the team and a difficult time for the nation as a whole. aleem caught up with them.

>> in pakistan, hockey matters. when it comes to the olympics, it is the only thing that does. after following their olympic journey for the past two years, last, it has come down to final preparations. if you want a turbulent buildup to the olympics, try having the entire team resign in shame after poor performances and then have the first team coach leave with just months to go. that's what happened to pakistan. there's still a sense that this team could still provide some shock victories. >> the fact that they are not

predicted to be on the podium could help them play more freely. there was a time when expectations were far greater. pakistan was one of the best sides in the world. the new coach was part of those glory days. >> my mother, my father used to say -- [inaudible] >> since then, there has been a lack of investment and the team slid down the rankings. pakistanis now more than ever are desperate for something to give them a boost. things are in the country are not good, he says. our job is hockey. through it, we will try to make things better. it is hard to overstate just what a medal for this team would do for people back home.

>> later today at the aquatics center, the golden boy of british diving will compete in the men's 10-meter synchronized platform event. it has been a slow start for the team, which is hoping to make the most of its own advantage. the british olympic association said it wants to be its own record from beijing, the country's best showing in 100 years. >> nothing beats a winning start. can a disappointing start to beat a team? britain expects to finish fourth on the medals table and the earlier awards have been slim.

mark seemed destined for gold in the road race he missed out. she missed again. in some events, they misfired in the first round. it is nervous start for britain's sports authorities. >> it's disappointing for those athletes that have not performed to their full potential. they have been beaten by great athletes. the most important thing, every athlete learned from the experience here. how they will take that experience into european and world success. >> right now, it falls to a young diver. a world champion at 15, a veteran of the beijing games, and with added pressure to perform. >> going into this competition is the same as any other world events. it means a bit more because of the five rings on the wall. >> as the sun went down on a two two -- a bronze medal.

a british silver, too. >> [speaking foreign language] pretty much a golden rule in the olympics that the host nation performs far better that it might normally expect to do. after what could be called a sputtering start, it seems team gb may now beginning into its stride. >> a set of securities has gone missing from the london stadium hosted olympic football matches. the keys were used by police officers during searches of the stadium. in london 2012 official says the locks have been changed and security has not been compromised. that is somewhat embarrassing. you've been watching london live from the bbc. a reminder of the main news. a huge power failure in northern india has badly disrupted the transport network. the power cuts affected large parts of northern india.

officials say electricity supplies in the capital, delhi, have now been mostly restored. we are now going to take a break. stay with "bbc world news."